All that is observable in a man-that is to say his actions and such of his spiritual existence as can be deduced… — E. M. Forster Copy Share Image
It is the function of the novelist to reveal the hidden life at its source: to tell us more about Queen Victoria… — E. M. Forster Copy Share Image
The work of art assumes the existence of the perfect spectator, and is indifferent to the fact that no such person exists. — E. M. Forster Copy Share Image
The main facts in human life are five: birth, food, sleep, love and death." "We must be willing to let go of… — E. M. Forster Copy Share Image
There are moments when the inner life actually 'pays,' when years of self-scrutiny, conducted for no ulterior motive, are suddenly of practical… — E. M. Forster Copy Share Image
All this fame and money, which have so thrilled me when they came to others, leave me cold when they come to… — E. M. Forster Copy Share Image
Not only in sex, but in all things men have moved blindly, have evolved out of slime to dissolve into it when… — E. M. Forster Copy Share Image
Life is like a public performance on the violin, in which you must learn the intrument as you go along — E. M. Forster Copy Share Image
“He will work off his crudities in time. I rather mistrust young men who slip into life gracefully.” — E. M. Forster Copy Share Image
“She could not explain in so many words, but she felt that those who prepare for all the emergencies of life beforehand… — E. M. Forster Copy Share Image
Most of life is so dull that there is nothing to be said about it, and the books and talk that would… — E. M. Forster Copy Share Image
People have their own deaths as well as their own lives, and even if there is nothing beyond death, we shall differ… — E. M. Forster Copy Share Image
Those who prepared for all the emergencies of life beforehand may equip themselves at the expense of joy. — E. M. Forster Copy Share Image
The sadness of the incomplete, the sadness that is often Life, but should never be Art. — E. M. Forster Copy Share Image
People in a novel can be understood completely by the reader, if the novelist can be understood completely by the reader, if… — E. M. Forster Copy Share Image
. . . life is sometimes life and sometimes only a drama, and one must learn to distinguish t'other from which . . . — E. M. Forster Copy Share Image
In the novel we can know people perfectly, and, apart from the general pleasure of reading, we can find here a compensation… — E. M. Forster Copy Share Image
Do not be proud of your inconsistency. It is a pity, it is a pity that we should be equipped like this. It is… — E. M. Forster Copy Share Image
This element of surprise or mystery - the detective element as it is sometimes rather emptily called - is of great importance in a… — E. M. Forster Copy Share Image
It is so difficult - at least, I find it difficult - to understand people who speak the truth. — E. M. Forster Copy Share Image
The final test for a novel will be our affection for it, as it is the test of our friends, and of anything else… — E. M. Forster Copy Share Image
America is rather like life. You can usually find in it what you look for It will probably be interesting, and it is sure… — E. M. Forster Copy Share Image
A critic has no right to the narrowness which is the frequent prerogative of the creative artist. — E. M. Forster Copy Share Image
Before the civil war, Pottibakia was a normal member of the Comity of Nations. She erected tariff walls, broke treaties, persecuted minorities, obstructed at… — E. M. Forster Copy Share Image
Chess is a forcing house where the fruits of character can ripen more fully than in life — E. M. Forster Copy Share Image
